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There’s a hole in this cake

For anyone who’s familiar with the film ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’, I’m sure you’ll remember the scene when Toula’s love interest Ian brings his parents to meet the Portokalos family and Harriet Miller presents them with a bundt cake? Yes, you know the one! Maria Portokalos cannot, for the life of her, say the word ‘bundt’. “Bon? Bonk? BonnnT?” Oh, “It’s a cake!” Then, whilst walking back towards the house, she makes a disapproving comment about how this cake had a hole in it.

But, Alas! That is how it’s supposed to be! A bundt is in fact a cake with a hole in it, and that is why I love them. Why? Well, if your tins are anything like mine, they won’t have a gaping hole in the middle, but one that is sealed at the bottom. This serves the genius purpose of acting as a collecting vessel for excess glaze, thus more lemony bang for your buck! Perfect.

Lemon and Poppy seed is a combination I love, but don’t have often enough. I think it seems to be more of an American thing than British, but either way it tastes great. Some pairings are classics for a reason, they just work. Lemon and poppy seed are like the popular American kids of the baking realm, so best just stick them together in a crown shaped cake and pronounce them home-coming king and queen!

Lemon Poppyseed Baby Bundts

(Makes 5)

125ml natural yoghurt

75g butter, melted

2 large eggs

zest of 1 lemon

150g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

125g caster sugar

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

pinch of salt

For the icing

200g icing sugar

juice of 1 lemon

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3.

Butter or oil generously 5 mini bundt tins (about 10cm diameter).

In a measuring jug, combine the yoghurt, melted butter, eggs and lemon zest.

Whisk together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, poppy seeds and salt.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, folding them well together, then fill the bundt tins about two-thirds full, and cook for about 25-30 minutes. When they come out of the oven, leave them to cool for a while before turning them out, otherwise they are prone to break up. However, don’t let them cool completely as they’ll just stick fast to the tin! Let them cool on a rack, flat-side down.

Making the lemon icing is incredibly quick and couldn’t be any easier. Just sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and whisk in enough lemon juice to make a smooth thick glaze, the snow atop your little lemony mountain peaks!

These bundt cakes are pretty versatile, so you can chop and change the flavour to what ever takes your fancy. I like the little pops of crunch and texture you get with the poppyseeds, but you could easily replace them with various dried fruits, chopped nuts or a good quality white chocolate. Orange zest would also make a lovely change to the lemon, in which case maybe something like dried cranberries or dark or milk chocolate would be a nice addition.

P.s. I enjoy big bundts as much as the next girl, but after making these,